Filipino is the
national language of the
Philippines and, along with
English, is an
official language; designated in the 1987
Philippine Constitution. Filipino is an
Austronesian language that is based on various existing native languages in the Philippines, with a significant number of
Spanish words in the vocabulary. In fact, about 40% of everyday (informal) Filipino conversation is practically made up of Spanish
loanwords. The Filipino language is in evolution, development and further enrichment on the basis of existing
languages of the Philippines and other languages.
[4] It is the first language of Filipinos living in
Metro Manila and the second language of most Filipinos.
[5]Sometimes the name "Filipino" is incorrectly used as the generic name for all the languages of the Philippines which, in turn, would be incorrectly termed as "dialects". Also, because of its similarity to the language on which it is based,[6] it is still incorrectly identified with Tagalog.
The Commission on the Filipino Language (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino), the regulating body of Filipino, envisions a process of popularizing regional dialect usage derived from regional languages as the basis for standardizing and intellectualizing the language, thus forming a lingua franca.
On November 13, 1936, the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa (National Language Institute) selected Tagalog as the basis of Wikang Pambansâ ("National Language") based on the following factors[7]
